Raniere Likely to Be Assigned to Supermax and What It Will Be Like

Keith Alan Raniere is not playing his cards well.

First, he gets secretly recorded at MDC running his Nxivm organization and condemning the judge and prosecutors.

Then, he gives the order for his followers to dance nightly in front of the prison, twerking and doing flips and demonstrating that he has Manson-like followers.

Next, he has followers storm over to the U.S. Attorney’s Office with a video camera demanding prosecutors sign an affidavit he wrote swearing that they did not tamper with evidence, suborn perjury and, in general, cheat in his case.

All of this is likely going to earn him a life sentence with the judge and a designation as a menace to society and a dangerous criminal.

I think it highly likely, if not inevitable, that he will be assigned to the US Penitentiary Administrative Maximum, AKA ADX Florence, AKA Alcatraz of the Rockies, AKA Supermax.

Let us describe this super-maximum security federal prison where I predict Raniere will be spending perhaps the rest of his life.  It is located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains near Florence, Colorado.

The ADX (administrative maximum) Supermax Prison in Florence, Colorado is a state of the art isolation prison for repeat and high profile felony offenders. (Photo by Lizzie Himmel/Sygma via Getty Images)

Photo by Lizzie Himmel/Sygma via Getty Images)

According to an article in Thought Co entitled Maximum Security Federal Prison: ADX Supermax from which I have liberally borrowed, the place has “Massive guard towers, security cameras, attack dogs, laser technology, remote-controlled door systems, and pressure pads exist inside a 12-foot high razor fence that surrounds the prison grounds. Outside visitors to ADX Supermax are, for the most part, unwelcome.”

“ADX Supermax strives for complete control over all prisoners at all times.”

“Modern, sophisticated security and monitoring systems are located inside and along the outside perimeter of the prison grounds.”

The COVID-related prevention was also highlighted.

FILE - This Feb. 11, 2004, file photo provided by the Bureau of Prisons shows the Federal Correctional Complex in Florence, Colo. Clockwise from lower left is the minimum security Federal Prison Camp, the high security United States Penitentiary, the maximum security United States Penitentiary and the Federal Correctional Institution. Experts say the drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who will be sentenced on June 25, 2019 for smuggling enormous amounts of narcotics into the U.S and having a hand in dozens of murders, seems the ideal candidate for the federal government's maximum security, "Supermax," prison, also known as ADX for "administrative maximum," a facility so secure, so remote and so austere that it has been called the "Alcatraz of the Rockies.". (Bureau of Prisons via The Gazette via AP, File)

This Feb. 11, 2004, file photo provided by the Bureau of Prisons shows the Federal Correctional Complex in Florence, Colo. Clockwise from lower left is the minimum security Federal Prison Camp, the high-security United States Penitentiary, the maximum-security United States Penitentiary, and the Federal Correctional Institution.

Prison Units

When Keith arrives at ADX, he will be placed most likely in the Control Unit, the highest security unit.

To be moved into less restrictive units, Keith must maintain good conduct for a specific time, participate in recommended programs, and demonstrate a positive institutional adjustment.

Inmate Cells

The cells measure seven by 12 feet and have solid walls that prevent prisoners from viewing the interiors of adjacent cells or having contact with prisoners in adjacent cells.

The ADX (administrative maximum) Supermax Prison in Florence, Colorado is a state of the art isolation prison for repeat and high profile felony offenders. (Photo by Lizzie Himmel/Sygma via Getty Images)

Prisoners may only be a few feet apart from each other but because of the thick walls, they cannot speak to each other. Keith may not even know who is next to him.

All ADX cells have solid steel doors with a small slot. Keith’s cell will have an interior barred wall with a sliding door, which together with the exterior door forms a sally port in each cell. Guards when they deliver food will open the exterior door and place his food inside. Then that door will close. Next, the interior door will open and Keith will have a moment to get his food before it locks again.

In this way, the guards do not have to have human contact with the prisoners each time they deliver food.

Keith’s cell will be furnished with a concrete bed, desk, and stool, and a stainless steel combination sink and toilet, and a shower with an automatic shut-off valve.

His cell is 7 by 12 feet, in reality, the size of a small bedroom.

Keith’s likely future home.

According to Thought Co: “The beds have a thin mattress and blankets over the concrete. Each cell contains a single window, approximately 42 inches tall and four inches wide, which allows in some natural light, but which is designed to ensure that prisoners cannot see anything outside of their cells other than the building and sky.”

If he is lucky and well behaved, Keith will, in time, earn access to a radio and a television that will offer religious and educational programming. If he is truly well behaved, he may be permitted to view some general interest and recreational programming.

He may also be allowed to tune in to educational programs. There are no group classes.

Meals are delivered three times a day by guards.

Here are some sample meals.

Meal at supermax

Meal at supermax

Meal at supermax

It is ironic that the man who demanded that his female followers be strictly regulated as to the amount of calories they could eat each day will now have his own food intake completely controlled.

At best, Keith will be allowed out of his cell only for limited social or legal visits, some forms of medical treatment, visits to the law library, and a few hours a week of indoor recreation.

Because he is likely to go to the most secure and isolated unit at ADX, Raniere will be isolated from other prisoners at all times, even during recreation, for years.  His only human contact will be with ADX staff members.

He may be able to work his way out of the most severe restrictions. “The compliance of Control Unit prisoners with institutional rules is assessed monthly. A prisoner is given “credit” for serving a month of his Control Unit time only if he maintains clear conduct for the entire month.”

Inmate Life

For at least the first three years, Keith will remain isolated inside his cell an average of 23 hours a day, including during meals.

His cell will have remote-controlled doors that lead to walkways, called dog runs, which open into a private recreation pen. The pen referred to as the “empty swimming pool,” is a concrete area with skylights, in which he will be given one hour to walk or exercise by himself.

There Keith can take about 10 steps in either direction or walk around thirty feet in a circle. This is a far cry from his 10 mile walks in Knox Woods.

Keith will spend his days and night in this tiny area.

According to Thought Co: “Prison officials monitor and censor all inmate activity including all mail that is received, books, magazines and newspapers, phone calls and face-to-face visits.”

“Phone calls are limited to one monitored 15-minute phone call per month.”

No longer will Vanguard be able to control his Nxivm operation as he has at MDC – giving his followers living in Brooklyn instructions on the phone. They will not be able to visit him. And since he will not be in contact with them anymore, his hold on them may lessen. That will be very good for his followers.

I am convinced Keith will sorely miss MDC, just as he probably sorely misses his life as Nxivm’s Vanguard.

The difference between his life in Nxivm and MDC will be about as great proportionately as the difference between his life at MDC and in ADX Florence.

As he festers in solitary confinement for years, it will seem like a dream to Keith that he once had followers who were enthralled with his greatness.

If Keith adapts to the rules, he will be permitted to have more exercise time, additional phone privileges, and more television programming.  The opposite is true if he fails to adapt.

He may also go insane, as have many prisoners at ADX.

Because they are alone all the time, prisoners often engage in fits of screaming and ranting for hours on end.

Others carry on delusional conversations with voices they hear in their heads.

Some spread feces and urine throughout their cells and create health hazards.

Suicide is common.

Thanks to Keith’s defiance [he seems to have defiance issues – a big problem he so often uncovered for so many of his followers], this is likely his future. Had he kept quiet, kept his followers low key – until after he was sentenced, perhaps showed some remorse and repentance for the people he hurt, perhaps he might have been assigned to a maximum facility, where at least he could have human contact and a chance at making some friends.

He could have perhaps some meaningful work at a maximum-security prison and in time might earn privileges that might make life bearable. He could dine with other inmates and enjoy social interaction. Maybe he could have used his talents to help other prisoners.

Instead, this sick bastard will likely go to where I suppose he really must be – in isolation.

As evidenced by the Nxivm-5 and other crazed followers – he really should not be allowed to be in contact with something he really is not, a species he only appears to resemble physically – a human being.

Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple and Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares

For the rest of his life – and this has not settled into his brain yet – this is where Keith Raniere will likely spend all of his time – all by himself – without contact with human beings; no friends, no followers, no women, no admirers, no one calling him Vanguard. He will likely live like a rat in a cage for years to come – perhaps until his death.

Viva Executive Success!